Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms “Sector Perform” Rating for Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating restated by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $133.00 price target on the bank’s stock, up from their previous price target of $106.00. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 28.64% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BMO. CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays cut their target price on Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Bank of America lowered Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE:BMO opened at $103.39 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $104.63. The company has a market cap of $75.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $93.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.41.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BMO. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,761,836 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,231,564,000 after acquiring an additional 692,049 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.9% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,065,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,508 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.8% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 7,312,320 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $613,138,000 after purchasing an additional 463,924 shares in the last quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 36.9% in the second quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 5,239,662 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $439,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046,721 shares of the bank’s stock worth $455,397,000 after buying an additional 625,797 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Company Profile

Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. It operates through Canadian P&C, U.S P&C, BMO Wealth Management, and BMO Capital Markets segments. The company’s personal banking products and services include deposits, mortgages, home lending, consumer credit, small business lending, credit cards, cash management, financial and investment advice, and other banking services; and commercial banking products and services comprise various of financing options and treasury and payment solutions, as well as risk management products.